Alaska or Bust :: Garage Sale

SATURDAY & SUNDAY 9-4pm


HUGE GARAGE SALE
Our family is starting our Alaskan Adventure with a garage sale to raise money for our big move!

8315 Chesapeake Drive Vancouver, WA 98664
Directions:
Just go North on Lieser Exit off Hwy 14
Turn left onto Chesapeake.
It's the second house on the left!
{If you're in the area- I'd LOVE to see you there!}

Items include:
Clothing (women & children)
Shoes (women)
Children's Toys (buckets, balls, dump trucks)
Little Tykes Basketball hoop, outdoor picnic table, outdoor sink
Radio Flyer Wagon
Jewelry
Household items (decor & beauty items)
Bookshelves
Antiques
2 Window Air Conditioners
Beautiful glass top outdoor table
Camping Gear (tent, chairs, coolers)
And more!!!

Please make offers! Everything must go!
360.314.8600 for directions or questions

Three Months...

Today Wyatt is three months old.

It feels like he arrived so very long ago.

I can't really remember life without him.

Really it was such a short time ago that he joined our family.

It's strange to me that the boys will never remember a time without him.

 He's changing every day it seems.

Now he's sleeping six or seven hours in a row, fitting in six month clothing & weighs 16 lbs. 6 oz.

At night I sing him my favorite lullaby and he goes off to dreamland in a wink.

He awakes once a night to eat, sweetly suckling with his eyes closed.

He's an easy going little brother, joining in whatever adventures the big brothers & I have.

He can sleep through any amount of noise & only cries when something is truly wrong.

His eyes are still a sharp blue, and his hair, still dark, is starting to fall out a bit. 

I can't wait to see how it grows back in.

His beautiful pink skin is full of beautiful breast-fed baby fat.

His arms & legs look like I've put rubberbands around them.

Oh, how I love his baby rolls.

I am finding myself happy.

So happy.

It's shocking, really, to have joy despite my circumstances, but I am rolling with it.

I attribute my happiness to these boys.

The big boys love the little boy.

Even if that love is sometimes a little rough.

Or in Logan's case- a LOT rough.

The other day in the car he was playing with a bungee cord & he poked Wyatt in the eye with it.

Just to see what happened.

What happened is the next day I had to take Wyatt to Urgent Care because he had a scab on the white part of his eye with red veins bleeding all around it. From there I was sent to a pediatric eye specialist who determined that Wyatt got lucky- his was just a surface scratch & should heal up with no permanent damage. {sigh}

But I reckon with two three year old siblings, that's just par for the course.

And lucky for me, Jack is pretty gentle & always a really good helper,

giving Wyatt his binky, or blanket or bubba and anything else he may need.

That's a huge blessing.

The boys aren't the only ones who love the baby.

I love him.

Oh, how I love him.

Sometimes I will hold him and just cry. 

I am so grateful that he is in my life.

So grateful that I got to experience a singleton.

And so grateful that he is healthy.

I am so blessed by this little buddy.

~

Jack & Wyatt

Twice a week my mother-in-law takes one of the boys & leaves me the other to have some special mommy time.  Last week while she had Logan, Jack got to take his first bath with Wyatt. He was so excited to watch me bathe Wyatt, to help pour the water on him and to help me "swim him" in the tub.  I absolutely love how delighted Jack looks in the picture above, and how disgusted Wyatt looks with my decision to let a 3 year old hold him in the bath tub. Two months old, and already he's a smart kid!

Daddy Pillows

  My mom made these Daddy pillows for Jack & Logan to hug while Josh is gone.

 She found this fabric you can put in your home printer & print photos on.

 The picture is of Josh with each of the twins, tucking them in, just before he left for Alaska.

 I love them, and the boys love them. 

Jack carried his the whole way home, refusing to let me put it back in the bag from my mom.

Logan squeezed his as soon as he saw it and asked if he could sleep with it. I am so happy they have these to snuggle while Daddy is away!

September

Normally I am a "savor the summer" kind of girl, so it's strange for me to have been looking forward to fall this year.  When August was over, I felt a collective breath being released.  A lightening of my emotional load.  Josh left a month ago yesterday.  August is done. He's gone, and with September here, I can say (if housing is complete on time) that I will see him next month.  That sounds so soon, right? "Oh, my husband? Yeah, I'll see him next month." (Like, no big deal...)

{First Day of Preschool}

 I have participated in "Back to School" every September since I was five years old.  Starting with Mrs. Boyle in kindergarten at Marrion Elementary, all the way through sixth grade where I got my period & my first kiss. (From a boy also named Josh, but not the same one I kiss now.) 

{Logan}

 Then I started Junior High at Wy'East, where I joined Concert Choir & tried being friends with the "alternative" kids, even though everyone who has ever met me in my life knows my blood runs preppy.  

{Jack}

By High School, which started in 10th grade back then, I knew pretty well who I was.  I attended Mountain View, went to youth group, had a good group of girlfriends and soon got my first car- a 1970 red Volvo station wagon.

{Jack told me "I very, very like school."}

 Then it was off to Clark College, here in town, for my general AA degree.  Got engaged, graduated & married all by the time I was 20.

{Logan said, "My favorite part was playing!"}

 Washington State University (the Vancouver campus) was the university of choice for me, and it was there I majored in psychology & minored in human development.  It was also there that I met Lynnette, Kristy, Melissa & Amber- all of whom had no children then.
Fall of 2005 brought my last semester there, and I will say it was bittersweet.  I have always loved being a student, loved buying school supplies, and (nerdily enough) loved studying.  I love the feeling of a completed project and the organization of a good outline.  

{Mommy & her big boys!}

 Within a month of completing my degree, I had been hired on by the Vancouver School District to work as a staff assistant in one of their elementary school behavior disorder classrooms.  There I met a boy who captured my heart.  A student who was more resilient than any adult I know, and who I still find myself thinking about, five years later.  I wonder how he is, if his home life has improved, and if he's getting from education what he needs to be a successful young man.  I pray he is.  And I'm thinking of him this school year.

{Headed to their class in the Sunshine room!}

 Two years into my gig at the Vancouver School District, I found myself pregnant, with twins, and then on maternity leave.  When I went back to work after Logan & Jack were born, it was to a different position, one in the Life Skills classroom with special needs students.  It broke my heart (as those of you who've followed me forever know) to leave my boys, but I really did love my students.  Three years of leaving my boys to go to work each fall, after a summer home with them, made me cry when I flipped the calendar months in my kitchen.  I would hyperventilate a little bit as each week in August snuck past.

{Watching the other students settle in}

This year, it's different.  This year, I am home.  This year, my husband got to have his first day of school, as a teacher.  This year, my sons got to have their first day of school, as students. And this year, I got to have my first day of school, as a parent, as a mother (a stay-at-home-mother!) and as a wife. Not as a student or an employee.  And after 23 years of starting school in September- I feel free!  I am so blessed to be able to spend my moments with my children.  All my moments.  I no longer feel torn the way I used to.  I no longer wake up with a lump in my throat.  I no longer envy the women around me who were able to stay home with their babies.

{The boys got right to work}

I am so grateful to my husband for choosing to teach in Alaska. Yes, it was to follow his dream, but it was also so that I could follow mine.  And his willingness to sacrifice for our family means the world to me.

 

{When it was time they kissed me with a smile & said good-bye.}

So cheers to everyone who has gone "Back to School" this year.  

And cheers to Josh for making it so I don't have to.

Going Somewhere

 I spend a majority of each day imagining my life in Marshall. Picturing the house, the snow, the people.  So I thought I would share with you what I know about Marshall, why I'm excited to go there, and all the other things that cross my mind as I ponder this huge life change.

This is the house that Josh shares with Brian, another teacher at Marshall School.  Brian teaches Social Studies and is new to Marshall, but has been teaching within the Lower Yukon School District for a few years. They arrived here in August & had an additional roommate... a little mouse.  Eventually they were able to "take care of" their extra roommate, and Josh says they haven't seen anymore.  (For a more in depth look at his current housing, check out this POST over at his BLOG.)

This was one of the first sunsets Josh captured on camera.  It was 10:55pm in Marshall when he took this.  Josh said the landscape is large, beautiful & the river is especially breathtaking. He said it's true what they say about it being light out- it's really hard to want to go to bed.  He's had trouble sleeping because his body feels like it should still be up.

 This is the brand new school. Only in its second year, it has numerous modern conveniences.  (Sidenote: They only cancel recess if it is COLDER than 20 BELOW!)

Mr. Cunningham

 Here is my sweetheart on his first day of teaching. He said it was the first, and likely only time, he will wear a tie. The attire is generally much more relaxed.  The sign on his door says "Elementary Classroom" in both English & Yupik.  The students have lessons in Yupik everyday and the elders in the community are quite involved in the school.  He said as he was setting up his classroom, he kept waiting for someone to come in and tell him what to do.  He's been in education since 2004, working first as a sign language interpreter/staff assistant, and later as a substitute teacher, so he was always taking the lead from someone else.

 Josh's classroom (I still can't believe he finally has his own!) has 8 computers, its own bathroom and an incredible view.  He also has an entire wall of cubby's for his students to store their snow gear in during the snowy season (roughly October through April).  That's something we don't have in our classrooms here!

 Here's the view from his classroom!

For an idea of what Marshall looks like in the big scheme of things, here's a link to the Lower Yukon School District website's page for Marshall: Marshall School. There is an ariel shot of Marshall, sitting along the Yukon.

When Josh calls me, it is often as he's walking.  His house is about a half mile from the school, and I think he said the post office is even further, so he does a lot of walking. When we talk I can hear children running about, 4 wheelers driving by and lots of dogs barking.  This weekend he was out walking around the village (which is about 5 square miles total) taking pictures and he said a little boy ran up to him and wanted to see his "picture." Josh told him it was a "camera" and the boy tried to look through the lens. Josh showed him how to look through the view finder and the boy just couldn't get enough.  He said the small boy made him miss Logan & Jack.

 And here is our housing! This is what it looked like when he first got there about three weeks ago.

 And here's what it looked like this weekend.  Josh was able to climb into one of the three bedroom units & take pictures for me.  I was overjoyed to see how much progress they have made.  When you first enter when you walk into an arctic entry where you can take off your snow gear.  The arctic entry also serves as a hot/cold barrier so that you don't let all the heat out or the cold in.  It's like a double entrance.

This is the living room. I think that's a bedroom in the door on the right.  We will use the downstairs bedroom for a playroom since the living space is so small.  That bedroom will double as a guest room when we have company.

The stairwell.  

I am disappointed about only two things I've heard from Josh. One is that there will be no dishwasher. And the other is that they are planning to put linoleum throughout the units.  I believe I will be setting aside some money for rugs & carpeting squares. Brr!!!

Here is the upstairs hallway.  That's one of the bedrooms (likely the one we will stay in) and the bathroom is to the right.

 Here is what I think will be the boys' bedroom. We are looking into getting a set of bunkbeds.  The principal & his wife are currently staying with their four children in a two bedroom house, so they have two sets of bunk beds. Once they get settled into the new housing, he said they will only need one set. Their children range in age from seven to a sophomore in high school.  

Another teacher has four children as well.  His are three, two & four months old.  The four month olds are identical twin girls. His wife is still "at home" in Montana, and plans to join him after Christmas Break.  I can't wait to meet her!  It's a big comfort to me that other women have moved their children to Marshall. I can do this!!!

 This is one of two full size bathrooms in our unit.  

As a quick, random note for those of you really behind on all of this, Marshall is a village of about 400 people in rural Alaska along the Yukon River.  It's about 400 miles west of Anchorage. The people there survive mostly on subsistence- moose & bear hunting, fishing & gathering berries.  There is a school, a post office, a small store & an airport. We will not have a vehicle in Marshall.  We might decide to get a snowski or a 4 wheeler at some point, but not yet.  The school has vehicles Josh can borrow if necessary, for picking up visitors from the airport, for instance.  We will have most of our groceries flown in from the Fred Meyer or Costco in Anchorage.  Any fresh, refrigerated or frozen items we need will have to be purchased here in Marshall, when or if the store has them. (i.e. eggs, cheese, etc.)

 Another view of the upstairs hallway.

And a note on weather.  Right now in Marshall it's in the mid 40's. When Josh got there a month ago it was in the upper 60's.  Drastic changes already.  The first snowfall last year was in September.  So far, he hasn't seen a snowflake, but I'm sure he will soon.  He had to buy these special ice picks to wear on the bottom of his shoes because the snow develops an ice layer on top of it that makes falling a serious risk.  He bought full snow gear while he was still here in Washington and will keep a pair of tennis shoes at work to change into from his snow boots during the snowy season. The boys have snow pants & jackets already, I just need to get them accessories (hats, gloves & scarves).  And I need to get everything for myself.  Last December, the highest high in Marshall was 3 degrees. 3 degrees!?!

 This is the bedroom Josh, Wyatt & I will likely share.  There are two bedrooms upstairs and one downstairs.  For now, we plan to have Wyatt in our room since I am breastfeeding, and the boys will be in the other room upstairs.

 And finally this is the view from our bedroom. Stunning right?  I am so excited to leave behind this ghetto I live in now. Drugs, bumping music, drinking, cops every other weekend busting up parties... I could use some serenity.  I am also looking forward to slowing down.  

"Moving fast is not the same as going somewhere." -Robert Anthony

The other night I was freaking out about how much work it's going to be to sort through everything (sell? store? ship?) and get my life in order, and God spoke to me.  What really matters, what's really important, is very simple: Josh, Logan, Jack & Wyatt. Everything else is gravy.  As long as we have each other & our basic needs are met, material possessions are of very little importance.

The other thing I felt him whispering was to just "do the next right thing." Don't think about all of it- of course that's overwhelming- just take the next small step in the right direction.  So that's where I'm at right now.  I am currently working on prepping for the garage sale I'll have weekend after next. Then I will focus on putting things in storage, and then I will work on shipping to Alaska the things that we will need. One thing at a time. One day at a time.  And before I know it we will be in Marshall together as a family.

Little Moments

It seems each day that there are enough "little moments" to fill a post.  I could just sit & type, all day long, the things they do and the clever things they say that I find adorable, heart warming or hilarious.  Here's a collection of the latest:

{Jack at my mom's house}

When the "workers" come to our house on Tuesday mornings to do our yard work, Jack always hollers to me, "Mom, the workers are here! They're lawn mowering!"

{They found a slug}

The other day I asked Logan to get off the table and as he got down he said, "Peace out!"

{And when I found them looking at it holding hands, I just had to snap some pictures}

As you saw in my previous post, I cut the boys' hair. I told Logan I needed to cut his again to kind of clean it up and he asked why.  I sarcastically told him because I did such a great job the first time. And he goes, "You're kidding, mom."

{Here are the preschool orientation outtakes}

The other day I was getting the boys in the car and Jack said, "Leave me alone, mom." I was taken aback for a second. Then I told him I would most definitely NOT leave him alone and that he couldn't say that to me. I don't know where he got that, but age three is too soon to be needing his own personal space!

{super cheese faces}

My mom was here the other day at nap time and Logan was walking down the hallway to give her a hug. He was swinging his arms rapidly & shaking his hips and he told her, "I'm speed walking, Nanny!"

{And the good one-- my beautiful boys}

Driving to my mom's house we go past my brother's friends place, a cement house that has three rentals in it. Jack told me, "Dallas' friend lives in that tower, mom." I asked him how he knew that and he told me, "I just do."

{Logan did this one all by himself. Love the arms/ears & teeth}

I took the boys to an appointment to get weighed, measured & have their iron checked last week.  (Jack weighs 41 pounds, Logan weighs 36 pounds & Wyatt is 15 pounds, 4 ounces.) When it was time to have their iron checked, which entails a poke on the finger, they both went into hysterics. Once it was done, they ready to leave. Pronto.  She still needed to read our results, so I told Jack we had to wait until she checked our iron. He stopped in his tracks, looked me square in my face and said, "But I don't want to get ironed, mom!" I can just picture the image in his head of himself on the ironing board, the nurse coming at him with a steaming iron. Poor kid!

{Jack}

Both boys call hand sanitizer "hanitizer."

{The watch Logan got at the dentist- he loves that thing}

At the park Logan always asks, "Can you swing me?"

{the twins}

Also at the park, some workers came to take the garbage and Logan said to me, "There's someone over there so be careful." They are so protective of me. It's really sweet.

{Bogs}

The boys got super dirty at the park the other day and Jack told me, "You're gonna have to take me a bath, mom."

{Silly}

Logan always uses "because" in his answers.  He wanted to go to McDonald's and I told him no. He said, "We can't go to McDonald's because Daddy's not here. He's at Alaska."

 

{Oh, how I envy those eyelashes}

We all call Logan "Logan Bogans", and Jack thinks that's the nickname you give everyone, so he calls Wyatt "Wyatt Bogans." 

{Jack & Logan... Jack  is getting so much taller!}

When you ask Jack his whole name he said Jackasaurus. I don't know if this is because Josh calls him that, or if it's because Jack Sawyer kind of sounds like Jackasaurus, but he's sure that's his name.  And if you ask his last name, he says, "Cunningham, Jack." Like "Bond, James Bond." Cracks me up!

{My crazy, silly bubs}

Logan told me the other day, "Grown ups can go in the street alone and cars won't crash them because they are grown up."

{Baby bath in the outside sink}

These boys talking is cracking me up on a daily basis. They love to talk on the phone & pace around the house like me when they do. I was telling my mom the other day it is truly remarkable how much they have grown up since we brought Wyatt home. In two months time they have gone from toddlers to big kids. They make me so proud.

The other day I ran into my high school counselor. I was in her office a lot, as I was quite an emotional wreck for most of my sophomore year.  She was so happy to see me and asked what I'd been up to. I told her I had three kids, that the twins were three and the baby two months. To which she replied, "Of course you have twins!"

That's how I feel lately, too. I can't imagine if there were just one of them. I feel pretty lucky to have made it through those impossible first two years and to be in the coasting phase of raising them.  The more they learn to do for themselves, the less I have to do for them. It really is getting easier!